Hugo Palmer has voiced his concerns regarding the decision to allow geldings into the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The coveted Longchamp classic has long been valued as one of the most important middle distance contests in Europe. The argument is that if a race is to be deemed as the best, then opening it up to horses of the calibre such of Calandagan, further enhances the competition.
Last years’ winner Francis Graffard has publicly backed the ruling, but others have voiced their concerns. Hugo Palmer, who’s now the President of the National Trainer’s Federation, said on Luck On Sunday via Sporting Life: “I know I’ve had an Irish Oaks winner and a second in the English Oaks. But I don’t think I’ve ever had an entry in the Arc. So I think my view is really just as a trainer, but I think it’s an enormous shame.
“I think the Arc is unique in that it is a clash of the generations. No horse has ever won three Arcs, because they don’t run in many. To run in three Arcs is pretty incredible. And I think that there could be no more depressing result further down the line than some nine-year-old gelding winning his fourth Arc.
“It would just be so depressing for the sport and for the breed.”
The race has thrown up some excellent winners, who have gone on to become highly successful at stud. The most influential winner, albeit a mare, was Urban Sea in 1993. She went on to produce both Sea The Stars and Galileo. The former won the race in 2009, and sired last year’s winner Daryz. The latter, Frankel’s sire, also sired 2019 winner Waldgeist.
Arc changes in danger of disrupting the ‘new generations’ of thoroughbred, suggests Palmer
Hugo Palmer continued his protests, stating: “What excites me about Flat racing is the new generations. That’s why I like two-year-olds, and I love the Classics, those horses coming through, how good are they? Who’s the best? Are they as good as last year?
“But then we’re on to the next year. I know that jump racing fans are very different. They love opening their racecard and seeing it’s the same old names at Cheltenham this year as they were there last year. And I get that, but this is Flat racing. I think Champions Day, for example, is immeasurably better when it’s run on decent ground and we get some young horses winning. Rather than when it’s run on deep mud, and we get all the eight-year-old geldings turning up.
“I think if the Arc de Triomphe starts being won by eight-year-old geldings, I think it’s going to be a really, really depressing race.”